A Surival Story From a Tribal Life
by Renaissance-Angel-of-Darkness
Summary: Rated PG for some cursingand some content. A young girl is stranded in California with her 6th month old brother when the Virus attacks. Read how she tries to live a life under these circumstances. R&R please! Plus ch. 45 up!
1. Prologue: Alternate Beginning

"Attention all, attention all, all adults evacuate the buildings now, take children with you, I repeat, evacuate the buildings and homes now," The speakers started dying out as the truck went by, going farther and farther away. 

            Rala looked up from her homework and looked at her mother. She loved her mother dearly, but at the moment she was mad at her for making her stay home to watch her baby sister, while she went and saw the new movie with her father. Her mother knew perfectly well that Rala would have loved to see it and had actually planned on doing so with her friends. But she was stuck babysitting. She had to cancel her plans so her mother and father could go see the movie instead of her. **_It wasn't fair_** she thought. **_How can they do that to me? How can they leave me to watch a six-month old child while they go and see a movie... my movie! How could they?_** She would wonder while laying her spoiled rotten brother in his crib to bed. She hated her brother with a passion now that he started talking. The whole family was always intent on listening for any new words that he might come up with. While she, Rala, had made a 37 chapter, 450-page story about her characters and all they said was good job. Then her brother said "Poppies" and the whole family erupted into cheers. Rala was beginning to feel that she wasn't loved. 

            She glared up at her mother. "What do we do now? Where do we go _mother dear_?" She could tell it was a dire situation though. She hadn't seen her mother this worried in years. 

            "I don't know what to do honey," She looked out the window to see what the other neighbors were doing. Apparently they all had the same idea. Look out the window and see what happens with the other neighbors and how they are acting about the sudden evacuation. 

            The baby, Faith, started to cry in his crib. He was awaken by the noise of the speakers. Rala looked over at his closed door and glared at it. Wondering how he could sleep through mother's vacuuming right next to the crib and not wake up, when in the next room, Rala would play her music half as loud as that annoying vacuum, and wake up. It seemed Faith had something against her. She knew it, there had to be some way that Faith hated her. She could almost feel it. She watched as her mother went into the room and tried to hush her crying child.

            Rala was tired of waiting to see what was going to happen. She walked outside into the blazing hot sun of California. She looked next door to see if her neighbor friend, Ebony was home along with her sisters Siva and Java. They were considerably nice girls. They didn't get along to well together but when Rala came over for a sleep over, they would have a great time talking about all of the guys they thought was hot and all of the teachers they hated. Eventually they would go to sleep... if they got lucky. They would stay up to around 4. 00 A.M. Before they're mother, politely, would ask them to shut the hell up and go to bed because she has to work in an hour. The girls would laugh to themselves and fall asleep. But they couldn't have that kind of fun this weekend because of Rala's mother and the babysitting deal. Sure the sisters understood what it was like to be stuck babysitting instead of a movie, but something was odd. They hadn't called or talked to her all week. It wouldn't have surprised her the most if school was going on. But because it was Spring Break, she wondered if she did something to upset them. 

            Rala walked over to next-door and knocked. It was Siva who answered the door. Her bleached blonde hair shone brightly in the sun. "What do you want Rala... can't you see we're trying to pack?" This wasn't the welcome she had been looking forward to. She was looking forward to a nice hello and a welcome inside. Instead she got something that made her sound like they didn't care much. The only thing she could manage to say was; "Why are you packing?" Siva laughed. "Are you that dense? Didn't you hear the intercom? 'Evacuate now', doesn't that mean anything to you?" Rala was angry now. She would expect comments like that from Ebony or Java, but never Siva. They were the best when together. They could finish each other sentence and just have a load more fun than they would if it was just Rala and Java or Rala and Ebony. 

            "I heard the announcements, but where are you going to go?"

            "We're moving to New Zealand... you know. The island?"

            "I God Damn know what it is Siva! I'm not that thick as your sisters and you put together!" She heard her gasp and felt the wind in her face as she slammed the door. She couldn't believe her ears. New Zealand, that was on the other side of the world! How would they ever make up now? She would more then likely never see them again. But right now she didn't care if she saw them again. She just hoped that if she did see them, they would be lying on the floor dead. 

            Rala's mother walked outside with Faith. Rala looked up when she heard a thud. It sounded as if something hard had hit the ground. When she looked up she saw her mother on the ground, her eyes in the back of her head, and her brother crying at not at the sight, but at the scrape he had gotten from falling. Rala ran over and held her brother trying to tell him that he was all right. She was merely trying to calm him down as much as her. She started sobbing next to her mother. She wished that she had been able to say sorry for being a brat to her and to her little brother. She hoped that wherever she was that she could hear her thoughts and forgive her. But until when she knew, she had a guilty conscious.**_ Mother_**, she thought**_, I am so sorry that I didn't forgive you; it was very selfish of me to say those things to you_**. She continued to sob when Java and her sisters came out see what the noise was. Their parents came also. They too heard a thud and looked behind them to see that their parents were dead at their feet. They all were to stunned to say or do anything at the moment, but silent tears fell on the ground. The three of them hugged each other and started to cry. 

            Ebony looked back at her mother and father and said to her older and younger sisters, "Oh sisters, please let us have each other and protect each other from whatever is attacking them. Please, lets not fight and lets not take sides but try to help," the sisters nodded in agreement and looked over at Rala. Rala looked back over at them and stood up. She walked over to where they were standing. "May I join the partnership?" She asked in a quiet voice. The sisters nodded and made room for the other two siblings to join in the group hug. 

            There were plenty of other kids roaming the streets with tears in they're eyes. One of them, Martin, along with his brother Bray, was a gathering supporters. They walked over to where they were standing, huddled together. 

            "Well, what an interesting group we have here… a baby and four young girls, certainly not old enough to be it's mother," The older brother smirked down at his little brother, he looked almost like him if it wasn't for the hair and some of the facial differences. 

            "Oh knock it off," Ebony said, sniffing as she did so. She wiped away her tears. "What do you want anyways?"

            "Well I heard the idea about moving to New Zealand and thought it wonderful. There has to be somewhere over there that wasn't attacked by the virus," 

            Rala looked over at him with a quizzical look about her face. "Virus? Who said this was a virus? And how are you going to get to New Zealand when you can't drive and when it's all over on the side of the world?!" She though this a ridiculous plan of course. There were no grown-ups from what she could tell, and how would they be able to power a boat?

            "What else would it be? It can't be an epidemic because it would have attacked everyone. So what else could it be? A Virus that's what. Now, Are you five ready to go to New Zealand. I know you three," He looked over at the three sisters, "Are already to go seeing how you have your bags in your house already packed. And what about you?" He looked over at Rala.

            Rala shifted her brother to her other hip to let the other side to be able to relax a bit. "I don't know. I think that Faith would have a hard time making it to the other side of the world seeing how he is so young." She looked down at her brother. Now it was her turn to be worried about her brother. Now she knew how her mother felt when she wanted to do something but was restricted because of her kids. She experienced sudden sympathy for all mothers now.

            "Faith? What a name to call a child. Especially a boy," Martin snickered a bit at this while his brother just stood there smiling at them. "Alright, enough horsing around, are you going to let your brother take control of your life just because he is younger then you?! What a way to live don't you think Bray?" Now it was time for Bray to say something. Rala looked over at him expecting him to say something crude and just as harsh as his brother.

            "Well, if your brother restricts you from having to go somewhere as far as New Zealand, especially with sickness of the water and such, but I think since your brother is so young, he should stay here. I'm sure there will be other people left here to help you take care of him," This was the longest thing she had ever heard him say. And truthfully, it made sense. But Martin just laughed. "My dear brother, haven't you noticed that we rounded up everyone to go? People from all over the city has come here in hopes that someone knows what is going on and that someone has an idea to help them with they're lost ones and such. Brother there will be no one left for her," Martin looked over at her smiled almost evilly at her. "But if you choose to stay where I'm sure it isn't safe and no one could help you then be my guest dear child. No one will stop you," 

            Rala looked over at the Sisters. Ebony was shaking her head, and clearly trying to mentally tell her to come with them, it would be better. Java looked like she really didn't care either way, and Siva had her hands to her mouth, so that it looked like she was praying for her to come also.

            "I'm sorry, but I just can't risk Faiths health just for me to come with you. Sure I might have a better chance surviving in numbers, but I'm quite sure that I can make it alone with him. I'm sorry, but I'm declining your offer," Rala walked into her house and started packing. 

            Enraged with her choice, Martin walked into her house fuming. "What the hell do you think you are going to go?! I thought you wanted to stay here!" He said through gritted teeth. 

            "Well, your right about one thing," She said packing up a duffle bag of her brothers clothes and diapers. "I can't live here alone with him, I'm going to wander the city and try and find anyone else that didn't leave with you. And once I find them, we can be a tribe together," She said a lot of dignity. Martin couldn't stand it. "You know what? Fine I don't give a damn, stay here for all I care! Because you know what else, I don't give a god damn if you do or not!" He walked out of the house and slammed the door. Sadly Rala was half expecting to hear her mother yell 'don't slam the door Rala! It might wake your brother!' But nothing came. Rala sniffed her sobs back and looked at her brother who was trying to crawl into the walker. This gave her an idea. She knew it was going to be a pain in the butt to carry her brother everywhere, but he had a big red wagon she could put his walker in and him in the walker and pull it everywhere. And since it was one of those little towing wagons, she could hook others onto it. It would be hard to pull, but she had no other choice. She would fill the bags and put them in the second wagon and pull it everywhere that she went. It was her only option.

             She didn't know what happened to the Sisters or Martin and his brother but she figured that they had gone with the plan and headed towards the coast to find a boat and take it across the ocean. She began to wonder the streets with her cranky brother the next morning. Apparently Rala hadn't figured out the times for his naps yet so he was cranky that he either missed it or when she tried to get him to fall asleep about 3 hours before when he was supposed to. So she just let him fall asleep whenever he wanted and recorded the times on a piece of paper in her pocket.  So she began her way through the empty streets crowded with garbage and bags. 


	2. Troubled Times

            All right here is the First chapter, the last one was the prologue of what's going on so here it is! I hope you like and I thank you for your Reviews… it makes me feel special… even if it is a flame… lol… I'm pathetic. **Walks off muttering silly things under breath**

 It had been one year since the virus had attacked. She was living in Kentucky right now with two other people. They're names were Bubbles, she was the definite hyperactive one of the group, and Ray, the cool mellowed one. At the current moment Ray and Bubbles were going out, but tried to make it less obvious to Rala. But of course, being the snoop that she is, found out.

            Faith was just as good. Rala hadn't told him of their dead parents, so all he knew, she was his only family, which, sadly, was true. Faith looked up at Ray and smiled. He always did love him, ever since they first met. Ray had always treated him nicely, Rala suspected that he too had a brother, but since he wasn't with them, she thought him to be over the age limit and died.

            Bubbles was hyper as usual. But she had a strange aura around her that made everyone seem to love her. Though seeing how it was only the three of them and a baby that made things almost boring for them. Rala missed her friends badly. She thought of an idea to help her with her problems. She brought the idea up with her newfound friends.

            "I think we should leave," She said suddenly at the dinner table. She and Ray had just got back from trying to find food while Bubbles sat and played with Faith.

            Ray looked over at her like she was mad. But yet he remained calm. "Alright then, and if we were to move, where would you have us go?" Bubbles nodded in agreement. 

            "Well… that would be the hard part. Well, I had friends a little while ago that as soon as the virus struck, they moved to New Zealand. One of their friends said that was where everyone is. I think that since there isn't anyone left here to help find food or watch Faith, that I think we should go where there is numbers. And I know them. They're really nice people," She looked hopefully at the others. Praying that they would trust her enough to help her get to New Zealand.   
            "We'll have to think about it you know," Bubbles said looking down at her plate. She hadn't been this quiet till this morning when he was still asleep. "I mean, who told you that that is where everyone is? I mean doesn't it sound a little fishy that everyone in this entire country has gone off to New Zealand?"  
            "Of course it does!" Rala answered, trying to wiggle out of the little hole she had just caused herself. She was beginning to think that maybe she should have just left them quietly in the middle of the night and head that way herself. "But it is the only chance that we have to live! We can survive in numbers! We can't survive here in a farmhouse with three teens and a one year old! It's impossible!" Rala said with tears in her eyes. She hadn't been this sure of anything for a long time. Lately she had just locked herself in her room, crying to her dead mother, and muttering things in her sleep. She was tired, and hardly up for any journey across the world. 

            "Alright, suppose we said 'Yay! Lets go somewhere where we can live in peace and harmony with a bunch of people we don't know and stay with people that you might have only met once!' How would we get there in the first place, and you are definitely not up to a journey across the rest of the U.S. to the coast to across the world, then travel to New Zealand for people who might not even exist anymore! How do we know that they didn't turn 21 or something and just dropped dead because of the virus? I don't think we should, it sounds a little too fishy for me to agree right off the bat," Rala hadn't seen Bubbles act so smart or sound like she knew what she was saying since she's met her. And apparently by the look of Ray's expression, he hadn't either. And according to Bubbles's journal, they had been going out for 2 years before the virus even struck them all. But Rala didn't care what they said. She would go to New Zealand with her brother and that was that. They would either have to come with her or just suffer without her because she wasn't staying in a smelly old farmhouse with broken windows and such anymore. She told this to her "friends" this comment and it didn't go over to well.

            "You can't do that! Listen to yourself. You told us that when you were offered to go there the first time that all did was say no and headed here! And now you want to go back? What about your brother? Would you take him along or would you want him to stay here while your left? Or maybe neither! Maybe you'll stay here with your brother like the smart person I know you are!" Ray said suddenly. But Rala wasn't about to listen to him complain anymore. She had already packed their bags and was ready to go off whenever. She just thought that it would be polite to ask for permission first. But since they weren't about to let her do so, she got up and headed to her room. Ray sighed and Bubbles said something under breath that sounded something like 'well that went well'. Unexpectedly Rala came back downstairs, bag across her shoulder, brother on her hip, and tears on her eyes, she stormed outside into the nice coolness of they crisp fall air. She figured by the coldness that it was starting to get that this wasn't the best time to start leaving for the ocean. But like she had made up her mind before, she wasn't about to let the cold get to her. 

            She heard her brother whimpering and saying quietly to be let down. He didn't want to go she could tell, and by 15 minutes of walking and shouts behind her, and whimpers in her ear she got fed up with it. Her temper already reaching maximum, she tossed down her bag along with her brother. She didn't mean to do it so roughly, but she could hardly stand it anymore. By now she had tears glistening down her cheeks. 

            "FINE!" She yelled at her brother, the wind was picking up and it blew her shiny soft Purple-dyed hair into her face and out of the loose ponytail she had it in earlier. "You know what! I don't care about you anymore! Just go back to them for all I care! Just go back to your "wonderful" brother and sister who apparently do a better job of taking care of you and making "better" decisions than I do! Now go if you want! GO! It's what you wanted for the past 20 minutes. So now you have your chance! LEAVE ME ALONE!" She yelled at him when he went to go and hug her. Faith was a smart young boy and he knew when she yelled it wasn't a good thing, especially at him. He started to cry and ran off past her and towards the farmhouse. She watched her brother run off, in that silly cute run that babies do. **_Kawaii desu. Oh good… do go back home. I love you forever and I am so sorry. Please Bubbles, please Ray, and please take good care of him. Please tell him that I love him forever and always will. Oh please tell him that I care. Oh Faith, I love you so much but this is where you belong. In a safe farmhouse with a loving couple that will do a better job of loving you then I ever could. _**Thought the 15 year-old girl as she began walking towards the setting sun. Even though she thought about doing it before, she thought that death would be the perfect way to end it all. She thought that there is no reason to live, if everyone that you loved is gone. So why should she live when all she had knows had deserted her. Why should she have to suffer the pain of not know what to do when they needed her. And besides… they would do just fine with our her… right?

Well that's it! I hoped you like it! I kinda got it off my friend who is almost… sorta going through the same kinda thing. Alright now I was stupid and accidentally posted the wrong story… the one without the disclaimer so please don't sue me until you read this! Please?  All you would be able to get is 20 bucks for the next 10,000 years… it sucks being a 14 year old with no money… so yeah… if you want to sue… be prepared to never get the amount of money you want. 'cause by the time I get that money it'll be in my will. So yeah… anyhows… here it is:

            Disclaimer: I do  not own anything by Cloud 9 (though it would be really cool), and nothing of the Tribe belongs to me (yet again would that be the best?) And this counts for the 1st one also!


	3. The Newest Member!

            She began to cry. She couldn't stand being alone anymore. It had been six days on her own since she left the farmhouse. She knew she was getting close to the border of Kentucky and she knew it was only a matter of time till she was actually on the coast and heading to New Zealand. Even though she couldn't navigate… all she knew was that if she was to walk there, she would eventually make it. She began to cry a little harder, the tears blocking her view of the road. She hadn't been on her own in ages. All she could remember is being with her baby brother through thick and thin. Now he was six days behind her, back at a nice farmhouse with a loving teenage couple. She hoped that he was all right. Unlike her, she was a complete mess. She had walked 6 days alone with barely any food, and hardly any water. She lost a lot of weight- not like she needed to anyways. But she had to keep walking. She knew that the farther she got away from her problems, the closer New Zealand seemed. 

            She looked up and wiped of her tears. The dirt on her jacket stuns her eyes as she tried desperately to wipe them away. But the pain in her side, her feet, and her stomach kept the tears coming back. She looked up at the sky. It was getting late. She would have to find somewhere to sleep and someplace safe to set up a fire. 

            She walked off the road and grabbed some leaves and some sticks. She placed it in the middle of the freeway and tried making a fire. She had dropped her bags a long way behind when she was too weak to carry them. That was about 4 days ago. She forgot to take out her liter that she had from when she left her house. Now she was stuck trying to light a fire the old cave-man style. Rubbing two sticks together. **_Great,_** she thought, **_I'm reduced to this hell of trying to make a fire without any matches at all. This is definitely not my day._** She began to cry a little bit on her own. Then she heard something moving in the bushes. She thought it was an animal so she picked up a self-made spear and stood up, watching the bushes moved. Out came a man.

            He had shoulder length black hair with a blue feather in it. She looked at him a little bit and sat down again, trying to get the fire started. He noticed her trouble and walked over to her with a liter in his hand and lit the sticks aflame. 

            "There you are," He said with a small British accent. "A nice flame. Err… what are you doing out here all alone?" he looked at her with his head tilted to the right a little bit. He was kind of short, but still taller then Rala. 

            "Aren't you alone?" She looked around him as if he was hiding someone or something behind him. 

            "Nope… I have someone," He looked over his shoulder and called out, "Hey Tai-san! It's all right, come on over!" Soon enough as he called, a young girl with black hair emerged out of the bushes, just as he did. "Did you find someone Lex?" She looked up at him. She followed his gaze and laid her eyes upon Rala.

            "Hello there, I'm Tai-san, and this is Lex… are you alone here?" Tai-san kneeled next to Rala and felt her head. It was steaming hot. She quickly withdrew her hand and blew on it to cool it down. Rala had fallen asleep. "Lex," Tai-san looked up at him with sympathetic eyes for the girl. "It doesn't look like anyone is here for her, and she is deadly hot, I think she has a very bad fever… Lets take her back. They can help her better than out here." She almost pleaded him with her eyes. He sighed deeply and picked up the skinny, 15 year old. He noticed how hot she was and how light she felt. He hoped that she would be okay… she looked young and still full of life. 

            Tai-san and Lex made their way back to their camp. They were with a girl with flaming red hair, and another one with what looked to be nubs on top her head… it looked as if it was her hair. 

            "Sal. can you go and get some nice cold water? And Amber… can you get a rag from my bag? This girl has a terrible fever," The two girls nodded and got up. The girl with the red hair, addressed as Sal., went over to a nearby creek and filled a small bucket with water. Lex laid Rala on the bed made of leaves and looked over at the small camp that they had made only earlier that day. The girl with her hair up like mini-cinnamon rolls went digging through a small backpack in search of a rag. Sal. walked back over and set the bucket next to the sleeping Rala.

            Amber looked over at the girl and looked at her sunken face. "Do you know what tribe she's from? I don't recognize these markings," She looked over at her fellow tribe members.

            Lex crossed his arms over his chest. "Well… when I found her she was alone. She was crying to herself when I first saw her… looks like she's in bad condition. What do you think Tai-san?" Tai-san looked from her boyfriend down to the girl. 

            "From what Lex says, I don't think she belongs to a tribe. I think she's just alone. And besides that, we have to worry about her health and not her tribe, at the moment," The others nodded in agreement. "Salene," Tai-san said, "Can you guess how hot she is… I mean her temperature?" Salene placed her hand on Rala's forehead and placed her other hand onto her own. 

            "Well…." She said, "I think it's well into the hundreds… she's burning up." Amber glanced over at Tai-San. "You will be able to help her, right?" Tai-san nodded and got up and started collecting herbs. 

            Rala started moving around. She could hear voices that sounded muffled… and a ways away. She tried listening to what they were saying. "…She's waking!" "Is she…"? "I'm sure she's ok…" She could barely hear anything. She couldn't get her brothers crying out of her head. But the voiced started getting louder and clearer. Rala sat straight up. The rag fell on her lap. She looked around, covered in cold sweat. She looked around. All she could see at the moment was complete darkness… then the light of a fire brightened her surroundings.

            "Where am I?" She asked, looking around at the four darkened figures. Suddenly, as her focus became clearer, and adapted to the night around her, she could make out the four people. The one called Salene, with the bright red hair was sitting across the fire, cooking something in a pot. Amber, the girl with the blonde cinnamon-roll like hair, was sitting next to the girl named Tai-San, who appeared to be praying. Lex was leaning against the tree with his arms folded across his chest. Rala asked again, "Where am I?" Amber was the first to answer.

            "We're in a small clearing about a mile away from where Lex and Tai-San found you. Are you feeling okay?" Amber looked over at her friends and back down to Rala. Rala shrugged and nodded a bit. "I guess so… is…is Faith here?" She had a feeling that they wouldn't know what she was talking about, but she thought it was at least worth a try.

            "I don't know anyone by the name of Faith, dear, but when Lex found you, you were alone," Salene looked at her with sad eyes. She took out a cup filled with whatever she was cooking and handed it to Rala. "Drink this… it'll help your fever," Rala took the cup and drank it. She almost spat it out; it was disgusting. But she drank it anyways. 

            "Faith is my one-year old little brother. I left him a couple of days ago at a farmhouse with a few friends of mine. I was just wondering if he followed me or not…." Her voice trailed off. 

            "Was that why you were crying… because you left your brother behind? Why didn't you take him along?" Lex asked a little aggressively. Tai-San, Amber, and Salene threw him a dirty look. Amber commented, "Ignore him… he doesn't know what he's saying half of the time," She smirked as she looked over at Tai-San. Tai-san smiled at her looked over at Rala. "What did you say your name was?" She asked politely.

            "I didn't. It's Rala. I'm from California and I've been traveling with my brother for the past year now, looking for people to help take care of him and such. Only recently did I leave him and started to head for the coast," She looked down at the empty cup as she said this. Now that she repeated what she had gone through, she realized that it was a stupid idea to head to the coast alone.

            It was Salenes turn to ask a question, "Alright… why did you leave California?"

            "Because Martin, Bray, Ebony, Java, Siva, and a bunch of other kids from Cal. headed towards the coast to go to New Zealand. Everyone that was alive in California went with them. All but me and Faith. Only because that he was six months old back then. I didn't feel that he would be up to it. So we just started wandering around,"

            "I see…" Amber said. "So… where are you headed now? Maybe we can help you there."

            "I'm headed towards New Zealand." Rala looked up at the sky. One of the four people laid a plate of fish next to her bed of leaves. "Thanks for finding and helping me. I think I'd be dead without you guys," Rala smiled over at them. 

            "Do you wanna join us then?" asked Lex now somewhat smiling.

            "Sure… I would love to," Rala beamed bigger than she had in ages. She was apart of a tribe. 


	4. The Attempt

            Already she was feeling better. It had been a couple of days since she joined the tribe. She was on good terms with everyone for the first couple of days. Later she started to get a bit irritated with Lex and his ideas.

            They had moved on and were already in Washington D.C. It was only a couple of days, maybe a few weeks later that they would make it to the coast, depending on the weather. The only thing bugging Rala is that she wished that there be a boat for them, and she wondered why Bubbles, Ray, and Faith, hadn't followed her. Maybe they thought that she turned around and went back to California to try and find a boat that way. No, they weren't that stupid. They would have realized that she wouldn't go back. Maybe they just… didn't follow. She didn't care right now though. She had to focus all of her energy on trying to find food enough for five people now. Amber would go and hunt fish, Lex would get firewood, tai-san would collect herbs to spice the fish up, and Salene would cook the fish and watch over it. While Rala went to go and find some fruit and berries to go along with the fish. 

            Rala heard the sound of running water. She figured this is where Amber went to fish. And sure enough, she could see Amber with a spear catching fish. It looks like she already had about six. Rala walked out of the bushes and walked over to her. 

            "Wow… How do you do it? How do you catch them all?" Rala asked amazed.

            Amber looked up in surprise. "How do I do it? It's really not that hard, I guess. Do you want to learn?" At these words, Rala's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree lights. "Can you really teach me? Oh that would be wonderful! That way I could be of more use to you guys… other than the berry picker I mean," She looked apologetically at Amber. "It's not that I'm not grateful for all of you coming with me and letting me stay with you and join your tribe, but I wish I could be of more help,"

            Amber smiled. "You're a lot of help. You help Tai-San with her medical herbs, and Salene with the fish get over cooked and tell her when it's done. You're a lot of help, really you are," She smiled again at Rala's scarlet face. She didn't realize that she actually was of some help. "Now, anyways, back to the fish. All you have to do is get a spear. I have an extra one around here somewhere… ah here it is," She beamed again as she handed the spear over. "Next you look into the water too see the fish, of course. Then you just aim… and fire!" As she said this, she also demonstrated this action by one of her own. She was lucky and caught two fish at the same time. She picked the spear out of the water and smiled. It's Just that simple. We'll try again for dinner okay? You can do it all," She smiled again and put the fish in the bucket. "Alright, lets go back to camp," Rala nodded and help with the buckets and they headed through the bushes and past the trees into a small clearing. There were 4 beds of leaves and 4 bags that they were carrying. Lex and Tai-San shared a bed of leaves, and the rest had their own. Rala was the only one without a bag, so the girls were more than happy to share their make-up and clothes with her.

            A couple of days turned into weeks, and they were very near the coast now. The weather was warm, but the wind was cold, sending the chills up their backs. A day or so later they met up with a couple of people new and they joined up also. It was Dal, a young boy who had been searching for Amber since she left her city, Cloe, a bright young girl who had green streaks in her black hair. Rala really didn't get along at first with Cloe, but she tried to see things her way. After all, she was a little younger then her. Dal was great to get along with. He liked all the things she did; books, arcades, and they had a great time talking about them. Truthfully Rala was a little jealous of what Lex had with Tai-San and vice versa, but she knew that she would find someone, even if they were in New Zealand. Honestly, she couldn't get Martin out of her mind. Every time she would fall to sleep, she would see him, mad at her for not coming. A new thought occurred to her, what would he say after a year and a half, she decides to come to New Zealand? Where, they had asked her to come just that little while ago. But in that little while, a million things had happened. She was afraid for her little brother and how he was being treated, but once she got on her feet again, she would come back for him and take him back. It was where they belonged, and she knew it. She didn't have any doubts, not yet that she believed. And also, in her dreams, she pictured her happy, with her friends and brother, everyone there in a nice warm home, with the fire place going from the wood they had collected and the fire they had started. This was her fantasy. But that was all that it was. A fantasy.

            After the while of traveling with limited food, she was soon loosing what little grasp of reality that she had. She would see things that didn't exist. As one such night she was sleeping and she thought she saw a vision of her brother. He was a young man, around 16 or so, he had nice clothes, nice pulled back hair, and a young woman on his arm. It was the day of his wedding. For some reason, an older Salene was the pasture, marrying them. But for some reason, Rala was nowhere to be seen. It was her own brother's wedding but she didn't see herself. But the girl, she knew her from somewhere, but she could decipher where from. In her mind she looked around at the brides' maids, saw Ebony, Amber, and Siva. For some reason a little girl with shaggy brown hair was the flower girl. And she had just started to walk the aisle. The Best Man was someone she recognized. It was Bray. He had long, braided hair, at least past his shoulders… though that is about where his normal hair was down too. He too looked wonderful. His wonderful eyes sparkling like an ocean. Filled with much to say. He looked over at Amber who smiled. Her stomach was bigger than it normally was, was she having a child soon? Ebony had a red rose on her forehead and she too was smiling over at Bray. Then she would look over at someone in the audience and wink at him. Rala looked over to the crowd to see who she was looking at and it was a tall man with white short hair. Next to him looked like his brother, who too had matching red hair. He was quietly talking to what looked like Cloe. Cloe was taller and looked more mature, but the way she was looking at the girl on Faiths arm, showed that she was still the same little girl, just spoiled. 

            The little girl had stopped her little prance up the isle and took a seat in the front row. Salene began to recite the words that seemed ancient. Rala hadn't heard the wedding vows since her mother's marriage, when she was six. Faith looked over at his bride and smiled. In his eyes was pure love for this mysterious woman, but something in those blue eyes. They were missing the spark of recognition of something. Something was missing from his heart. Rala tried to think of what was gone, but the only thing she could see missing was herself. She wondered, if this was her brothers' wedding, then where was she? She knew she wouldn't miss it for the world, so where was she? She looked up and down the aisles and still no sign of her. 

            Faith was just about to reveal who the woman was under the veil but someone shook her in the reality part of her mind. She woke up to find what looked like Amber over her. Rala rubbed her eyes and sat up. She looked over at Amber who had a scared impression on her face. She tried to figure out why she had woken her up and secretly hated her for it. Was it a vision she had just then, or was it, yet again, her fantasy dream. 

            "Is something wrong?" Rala asked a little stupidly. 

            "You were sleep talking, you were saying things like 'where' and 'where am I' things like that. I was worried you were having a nightmare," Ambers expression turned scared to relieve when Rala muttered that she was fine and it was nothing to worry about. 

            A couple of days went by and they had found a boat. They eventually found the keys in the mini-compartment. All they needed now was some extra gas. It was around noon and Rala was relaxing on the front of the boat, staring at the waves. She hadn't told anyone about the "vision" she might have had. She figured that she had been hanging out with Tai-San a little too much, and maybe some of the spiritual aura had rubbed off on her. Still, just to be sure, she didn't tell anyone. Tai-San knew something was wrong since the night Amber woke her up. She tried and tried again for Rala to tell her, but there wasn't any way to crack the hard case that she had barricaded her self in. 

            Rala was afraid of what Tai-San would make of the dream, so tried hard to avoid her. Lex was getting annoyed with her actions and threatened to make her spill or he would have to resort to violence. Of course he would only say this when his girlfriend wasn't around. 

            She looked up at the sky and wondered how long it would take for them to finally reach the land of New Zealand. She saw the moon was still out, and it was still full from last night. She wondered if her brother was looking at the same moon, wondering where his big sister was, and why she seemed to hate him so much. A silent tear fell down from her eyes, down her cheeks and into the water. More began to fall and she grabbed her legs close to her and rubbed her eyes on her knees. She wanted someone to hold, someone of her own, like Faith, someone to tell her it was going to be okay.

            Salene had noticed this and she sighed. She wanted to help her but she just kept pushing people away. **_She is an innocent child, lost in this huge world, without anyone to help her along… no one to call her own._** Salene felt pity for this young girl who had lost more than she could imagine. She didn't loose her brother to death, but she lost him from herself. She pushed him away too much and he wasn't coming back. And apparently only recently had she noticed. Amber seemed to have noticed Salenes worry. 

            "Don't worry, we'll get through to her, so stop worrying. That's the last thing we need right now is two people crying," She smiled but her eyes too were filled with worry for her friend.

            Rala had began to cry a little harder, still trying to cover it up, and began to rock back and forth. Tai-San couldn't stand it, she walked over to her and put her arm around her shoulders to calm her down. She said something to her and Rala flung herself to her crying on her shoulder. 

            The next day they were off on their way. Rala still kept to herself except to Tai-san. Every night she would tell her, her dreams and Tai-san would record them, and try to decipher what they meant. But so far she couldn't tell what they meant. But harder and harder she would try. She promised Rala, that she would get to the bottom of her dreams. 

            Lex was getting a little jealous of all the attention Rala was getting from his girlfriend. Tai-san would merely snicker at his behavior and tell him "Dame Desu." Which her friend from school had told her it meant, "It's no good", and smile at him. Amber was still a little worried for her friend, and she was afraid that she looked like she didn't want anything to do with Rala's problems. Salene was having some of the same worries. 

            On the sixth day of fish and travel by boat, Rala got out of her bed and when she did so, she had woken up Amber, and Amber wondered what she was thinking. Rala's eyes looked shaded over, as if something was blocking a window into her soul. All that you could see is a dark expression, and at first glance, Amber was afraid. 

            Rala lifted up a something in her right hand. She held it over her head and went down hard. Amber only realized a split second before, what she was trying to do. She ran over and grabbed her arm. Amber's eyes too, were cloudy, but with tears.

            "Rala! What do you think you're doing?! Are you _trying_ to kill yourself?"

            Rala dropped the knife and to her knees. She put her hands to her face and began to cry. She didn't like the world she was in, and thought that it would be easier to just let life go, than to stick it out. She began to cry harder at the thought that had just crossed her mind. Maybe this was why she wasn't at her brother's wedding, maybe if Amber didn't wake up in time, that was what the future would have been like.


	5. Arrival

            Amber sat there with Rala, scared for her friend, and what would have happened if she hadn't woken up in time to see what was going. The thud vibrated across the whole boat. Salene, Lex and Tai-san all ran into the room and flipped on the light switch. Lex was the first to see the knife by Amber. His eyes widened. 

            "Amber… did you try to do Rala in?" He asked suspiciously. She looked at him with eyes that plainly said 'Oh please, Get a life Lex,' She rolled her eyes. Amber shook her head and looked down at Rala, who sat crying into her hands, rocking slightly to her sobs. As soon as Lex said that, Salene looked up at Amber. "You really wouldn't do that, would you?" Apparently, Salene had missed the look in her eyes. 

            "Why would I do that to her? She's a poor child that misses her family, just like the rest of us. But that doesn't mean I would do her in!" She said offensively. Tai-san looked worriedly over at Rala. "Rala… did you try to kill yourself?" She said in a kind tone of voice. Rala slowly nodded through her hiccupping sobs. 

            "I-I-I wanted to," she hiccupped again, "E-end my li-life, I don't w-wanna be here any-more…" She began to sob again. Lex looked confused. 

            "So wait… wanted to kill yourself, then what was Amber doing with the knife?" Amber, Salene, and Tai-san looked up at him with a stupid look on each of their faces.

            "Lex…" Tai-San said quietly, "She tried to stop her. That's why she had the knife, not to do her in, but to stop her. Amber must have woken up to something and saw her and stopped her," She looked over at Amber. "I'm sorry Amber that you had to go through that, and I'm very pleased that you stopped her. I think we would have all tried to do the same thing," Salene muttered under her breath that sounded something like 'Yeah, _we _would have… who knows about Lex,' Amber smiled over at Salene. Apparently she had heard what she said. Lex looked furious at the comment. But no one seemed to notice that Tai-San had taken Rala outside where they could look at the sunrise. 

            "You know, all of us would have tried to stop you, right?" Tai-San asked quietly to her. "I know you would have tried to stop me, but why would you have?" Rala asked back as a question. Tai-San smiled. "Would you have helped us?" Rala looked away and thought about the answer. Immediately her mind said Yes, of course! But something was hesitant about the voice. She had left her brother with two strangers, people she only knew for a little amount of time. But as she thought of her brother, she was glad that he wasn't here to deal with this. She thought of her dream again. She wondered, again, what was missing in her brother's eyes. Something important of course, only something important missing would have caused that sparkling twinkle to go away. She pondered this question also. 

            "What could be missing?" She quietly asked herself. Tai-san looked startled at the question and answered with one of her own. "What is missing?" Rala ignored her and kept thinking. 

            "If Amber hadn't stopped me, then was that what was missing? Me? Would my brother actually miss me? After the way I treated him? After the way I yelled at him, telling him to go away from me? Was that spark missing because of me? Am I the reason he suffers…?" Tai-san quickly answered her many questions.

            "No of course not! You are your brothers' sister! We would have all missed you! That spark in his eyes wasn't missing because of you, I think it was because he knew that he would have a great more responsibility than he could handle. Being tied down to someone is hard. Maybe then, in that time, he likes being free… like you do. Being free to leave whenever you want. Don't worry about those things so much. We will all find out what is missing in our lives once we get there. Don't worry so much about it. It just causes more stress on you right now, and you really don't need anymore of that. You'll get gray hairs by the time your 19," Tai-san smiled at her and tried to make her see the point in her logic.

            "But if no one worries about the future, what will happen to it? How will anything be deciphered? If you were to get rid of all the meat in the world without thinking about the consequences, then what will happen without it? You just can't think of things like that, Tai-San, you of all people should know that," Rala said, looking Tai-san in the eyes, and hers was asking something around the hard question like 'what's the meaning of life' and things like that. It was as if, Rala's eyes tried hard to look into the soul of her to see if she could find the answers. Like she was trying to find the answers in Tai-sans soul, her spiritual nature and such. 

            "See you're doing it again. You're getting to far ahead of yourself. Just go back to bed. We'll deal with things in the morning. Besides, I think we're coming up close to the island," She smiled over at Rala who nodded, and not saying anything, walked inside the ship and fell back asleep in her own bed. She dreamed, for once in the longest time, a nice peaceful sleep.  

            When she woke up later that morning, she felt new and reenergized. Lex was amazed at her quick comebacks… he had almost gotten used to her not answering him back. But now he had a match in quick-witted comebacks, and such. She hunted with Amber more and more, and eventually started catching more fish than her. Salene was always happy to have more help with the kitchen duty. Tai-san loved having her for meditating also. Rala was really happy with everyone then she had been in ages. 

            They finally made it to New Zealand. Rala above all was happy that she would hopefully see her old friends, and be reunited with them. She especially missed Siva the most. They always had got along well together. She was surprised at her own thoughts. She remembered the last time she thought about them, she was still mad at them for making her look like a fool in front of Bray and Martin. She also wondered how they were doing, and their Tribe. 

            Rala was the first and probably most eager to get off of the boat. But when she did, she instantly turned her head back and looked at the ocean and she smiled to herself. She had made it across the ocean to another continent without any adult help. _So… a bunch of kids can travel across the ocean without help. Funny… if the grown-ups were here today… what would they say to such a thing?_ She smiled at her thought. She imagined her mom yelling at her for leaving her brother alone with strangers she hardly knew, going out alone with him, surviving on fish, wearing the make up that she is now, and that she had just traveled almost across the world. Rala laughed out loud. She forgot for a moment that she did have make-up on. She had gotten so used to having it on, that it didn't bother her anymore. Before, she would hide under the blankets when her friends would try to get some on her at their sleepovers. She had a beautiful blue eye shadow that went up from the top of her eyelid, all the way down as in a tear. She had it on both sides, and a star inside a circle on her right hand. That was to prove that she was apart of a tribe. Salene had dyed her hair a bright red and blue color, while the rest remained a dark black like it was before. Tai-san added some black eyeliner to outline the tears and for her thin eyebrows to extend into curls along with the side of her eyelashes. Rala, herself, picked out a deep purple color for her lipstick, and some clear lip-gloss to make it shine. The blue really showed against her black eyes. She wondered if anyone would recognize her. She had her hair up in pigtails, ratted on the top of her head, and made into cones with hair coming out of the sides. To her, she looked like a whole new person. 

            Her clothes were something totally different. She had thigh high vinyl boots, an elastic tube top that was a deep blood red, and a black vinyl skirt with a loose belt, with some parts of an underskirt underneath that was a sky blue. Now if she were to show her clothed to her mother 10 months ago… she would have killed her. Half of her clothes were vinyl, 'the most showy type of cloth is vinyl', her mother would say, when she would want a top or something from a certain store.

            While the rest were getting off, she quickly got out of her dazed and told herself that her mother isn't here, her brother isn't here, and now she has to rely on her friends as much as they have to rely on her.  

            "Where should we go now?" Lex asked. They all looked puzzled as to where they wanted to go. 

            "We could try the city… there are bound to be people there," Amber said, pointing up at the sky. There was a dark cloud hanging over a certain part of town. There was a fire going on.

            "That… sounds good…." remarked Lex, staring at the cloud of smoke. "We have to go! Come on!" Yelled Salene, already running towards the fire. The rest of them looked at each other and followed one another.


End file.
